With the teams themselves complaining that this particular pre-season has proved as difficult to analyse as any in recent memory, interpreting the timesheets from Jerez and Barcelona is very much a mug's game.

Yet it would also be wrong to say that nothing was gleaned from the 12 days of action over the last month - in fact what we have established from the action in Spain is that next week's season-opener in Australia can't come too enough.

Lotus on the up, Ferrari on the slide, McLaren within striking distance of Red Bull...the new season looks set to be close - very.

I think it's most likely to be Vettel unless McLaren manage to get a car worth driving out on the track. Regardless of what McLaren is saying about how good their car is this year I don't believe they'll have a car that can keep pace with Red Bull.

I think Mercedes is going to pull some magic out of the bag for Melbourne. Why else would they delay testing??? They are also downtalking their package. Question is...are they being straightforward or are they hiding something?

Lotus also looks very good. I agree on Ferrari that the car not only looks slow but also ugly..._________________There is, a not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded. If that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there would be no escape from this here that is born, become, made and compounded. - Gautama Siddharta

As a safety measure, regulations demand the nose to be lower than last year. But only to a certain length. So the teams went "ok, we'll make the nose lower to meet regulations, but the rest of the car will remain at the same height as before". Resulting in this ugliness.

Just got back from the Australia F1 GP qualifiers where my flying school was conducting joy flights(free tix yay) and so far my prediction that Mercedes have got something special this year proves to be true - schumi and rosberg had fastest times in Q2, but Macleren got the pole position in the end. Schumi usually has the best start in the race. I'm betting he's gonna be p2 or p3 in the first corner._________________There is, a not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded. If that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there would be no escape from this here that is born, become, made and compounded. - Gautama Siddharta

Just got back from the Australia F1 GP qualifiers where my flying school was conducting joy flights(free tix yay) and so far my prediction that Mercedes have got something special this year proves to be true - schumi and rosberg had fastest times in Q2, but Macleren got the pole position in the end. Schumi usually has the best start in the race. I'm betting he's gonna be p2 or p3 in the first corner.

Gearbox problem, bumma. They really need to address the tyre degradation though. They got a fast car but if they cant drive it fast due to tyre problems, then they wont be able to compete._________________There is, a not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded. If that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there would be no escape from this here that is born, become, made and compounded. - Gautama Siddharta

It seems the Mercs' F-duct advantage delivers good qualifying results, only to then delay all the rest of the field during the race._________________backend.cpp:92:2: warning: #warning TODO - this error message is about as useful as a cooling unit in the arctic

Mercedes were the focus of controversy in Melbourne because of their DRS-operated 'F-duct' speed boost system.

I've been poking around near the car and it's clear how it works.

When the DRS overtaking aid opens on the rear wing, it reveals a hole in the endplates.

That allows the underneath of the front wing, which is at a low pressure, to suck air from there right through the car.

It goes down the endplates, along the lower beam wing, through some pipes and ducting in the cockpit, down the front wing pillars, into the front wing and out of a slots on the bottom of the front wing.

That reduces the front downforce of the car, which has two effects.

It cuts drag, therefore boosting straight-line speed even more than it already would be just by opening the DRS flap.

But it also makes the car more balanced front to rear in high-speed corners in practice and qualifying, where DRS use is free, because the main problem with F1 cars in fast corners is they have too much front downforce.

They'll have a restrictor in there that they can change from track to track depending on need.

Schumi qualifies 3rd in Sepang. Nice. Hopefully they addressed the tires degradation issue without compromising speed. Should be a nice race. Seems like Mercedes finally got him a almost-great car._________________There is, a not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded. If that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there would be no escape from this here that is born, become, made and compounded. - Gautama Siddharta

Force India team members were forced to flee as petrol bombs were hurled over their vehicle on their way back from the Bahrain Grand Prix track.
The four mechanics in a 4x4 were caught in the middle of an incident as police clashed with protestors.
Some tear gas fired by police entered the car, before the driver escaped through a gap in the flames on the road.
No Force India staff were hurt but two team members have asked to return home.

Think Bernie fucked this one up._________________There is, a not-born, a not-become, a not-made, a not-compounded. If that unborn, not-become, not-made, not-compounded were not, there would be no escape from this here that is born, become, made and compounded. - Gautama Siddharta